»04/14/2009PAKISTANSwat Valley: President Zardari authorises Islamic law, Taliban rejoiceby Qaiser FelixFundamentalists threaten to kill lawmakers for “apostasy” who voted against proposal. Catholic activist slams the presidential signature, expressing appreciation for the courage of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, the only political party that did not vote for the pro-Sharia resolution.

Islamabad (AsiaNews) – Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari signed into law the controversial Nizam-e-Adl Regulation 2009 which imposes Islamic law (Sharia) in the Swat Valley area after Pakistan’s National Assembly passed a resolution in favour of the regulation.

The decision to introduce Islamic law to the scenic region was reached by the government of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and the Tahrik-e-Nifaz Shariat Muhammadi movement (TNSM) to end years of war and violence. Sharia came into effect last 16 February. With the president’s signature it becomes fully operational.

Recent weeks have shown what the new regulation entails. Hundreds of local lawyers have lost their job, NGOs cannot operate, anti-polio vaccinations have been stopped, imprisoned Taliban militants have been released and violence against women has skyrocketed. However, the flogging of a 17-year-old woman caught strolling with a man not her husband caused an uproar.

Still most members of Pakistan’s National Assembly voted in favour of the resolution, including non-Muslims. Only one party, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), did not vote in favour of the resolution and expressed instead reservations about it.

Peter Jacob, executive secretary of the National Commission for Justice and Peace, slammed the president’s decision to sign—he also expressed disappointment that non-Muslim parliamentarians did not oppose the resolution in the National Assembly.

“It is shocking and surprising that non-Muslim members of the lower house of parliament remained silent,” he said.

He did however appreciate the fact that the MQM did not vote in favour of Sharia in Swat.

What has happened has alarmed the NCJP secretary. In his opinion the decision to hand over the Swat Valley to the Taliban will probably encourage them to try to impose Islamic law in other areas of the country. In the end a parallel justice system will be set up and bowing to fundamentalist violence will give the Taliban a free rein and they are bound to demand more.

On Sunday the Taliban also threatened Muslim lawmakers that they would be treated as non-Muslim if they voted against the resolution. From their point of view a negative vote amounts to “apostasy”, a crime punishable by death according to their radical interpretation of Islam.

Muslim Khan, a spokesman for the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), issued a warning: any lawmaker voting against the resolution that imposed Sharia in the Swat Valley should consider contesting the next election for “seats reserved for minorities”, if “he is still alive”.

In the meantime the uproar over the Chand Bibi affair continues across the country. it involved a 17-year-old woman who was publicly flogged by the Taliban, an action caught on a cellphone camera whose video was eventually shown around the world.

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